£25m investment moves factory into world’s top five
ICE CREAM manufacturer R&R has completed a £25m investment programme that puts its Leeming Bar factory into the five largest ice cream and lolly production facilities in the world.
The four-year project has increased the production capability at its North Yorkshire site by more than 20%.
R&R Ice Cream is the world’s third largest ice cream manufacturer and it makes 250m litres of ice cream a year at Leeming Bar alone. The 22 production lines make ice cream, lollies and frozen yoghurt for brands including Oreo, Cadbury and Rowntrees, and own-label products for a host of major retailers.
Ryad Apasa, Head of UK Operations for R&R, is also proud that despite the significant increase in production, the changes made to the energy supply and treatment of effluent have resulted in a reduction in the site’s carbon footprint.
The installation of a combined heating and power plant, costing £2m, has led to significant savings in energy costs and R&R estimates the £2million cost of the plant will be repaid in just over three years.
More production has also meant that the capacity of the on-site effluent treatment plant has been increased from 600,000 litres to 1.5m litres per a day. From early 2016 around two-thirds of this waste will be taken to a nearby anaerobic digester, which will be used to produce biomethane which will be fed directly into the local gas network which in turn supplies R&R with gas for their CHP.
Selected manufacturing equipment has also been re-engineered as part of the investment programme. It has enabled the manufacture of new products including the Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations range, with its jellies and popping candy which are new formats for the sector, and a Yoomoo lolly which has a very high yoghurt content.
“Through using our skilled in-house engineering teams to adapt the existing production equipment, we can continue to advance the boundaries with new manufacturing techniques which ensure R&R’s reputation for innovation will continue,” added Mr Apasa.
